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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Four short stories in one book! I liked each one for different reasons. In-depth environment descriptions really brings the scene to life. The stories are shorter but the writing is dense.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Was for sure a good book, just lacked the usual Stephen King feeling.
This is the first novel I ever read at 13 years old. I have a special place in my heart for Langoliers
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
What would be four full length novels for most authors must be considered overgrown short stories and compiled by the likes of a Stephen King. Luckily, he is at his best when he attempts brevity and all 4 of these are winners from the land of The Twilight Zone and Stranger Things.
The Langoliers
Eleven passengers on a red eye flight wake up to find themselves alone, without pilots, crew, or other passengers. Luckily, one of them is a pilot himself, dead-heading his way to Boston. So they can land the plane, but what will they find on the ground when they land?
Secret Window, Secret Garden
A famous author finds himself living in the Lakehouse and trying to overcome writer’s block not that his wife has abandoned him for some real estate agent. And now some oddball southerner from Mississippi shows up on his front porch, claiming that he stole a story from him years ago. Not one of his better selling novels, but some random forgotten short story, one of the only creepy ones he ever wrote. Can he convince this stalker that he didn’t steal the story before drastic steps are taken?
The Library Policeman
Needing to prepare for a speech he’s been roped into giving, an insurance salesman goes to the library to look for books of anecdotes and poems to liven up the oratory experience. What he finds is bizarre and, as it turns out later, deadly. Can he face his own hideous past and discover a way to overcome an evil that hasn’t reared its head in this town since those children died all those years ago? A different take on something similar to IT.
The Sun Dog
A teenage boy gets the Polaroid camera he always wanted as a birthday present. In any other town, nothing strange could come of it. But this is Castle Rock and strange and evil occurrences are sort of a norm here. It shouldn’t be a surprise then, that this particular camera does not spit out pictures of your smiling friends and family, but the same picture over and over again, of a beastly dog turned to sniff a fence. But wait. Are the pictures truly the same, or is the dog slightly moving with each capture? Best not to find out.
Great concepts all, and well executed by a master storyteller. Some pretty trigger content in The Library Policeman, but all fascinating stories.
The Langoliers
Eleven passengers on a red eye flight wake up to find themselves alone, without pilots, crew, or other passengers. Luckily, one of them is a pilot himself, dead-heading his way to Boston. So they can land the plane, but what will they find on the ground when they land?
Secret Window, Secret Garden
A famous author finds himself living in the Lakehouse and trying to overcome writer’s block not that his wife has abandoned him for some real estate agent. And now some oddball southerner from Mississippi shows up on his front porch, claiming that he stole a story from him years ago. Not one of his better selling novels, but some random forgotten short story, one of the only creepy ones he ever wrote. Can he convince this stalker that he didn’t steal the story before drastic steps are taken?
The Library Policeman
Needing to prepare for a speech he’s been roped into giving, an insurance salesman goes to the library to look for books of anecdotes and poems to liven up the oratory experience. What he finds is bizarre and, as it turns out later, deadly. Can he face his own hideous past and discover a way to overcome an evil that hasn’t reared its head in this town since those children died all those years ago? A different take on something similar to IT.
The Sun Dog
A teenage boy gets the Polaroid camera he always wanted as a birthday present. In any other town, nothing strange could come of it. But this is Castle Rock and strange and evil occurrences are sort of a norm here. It shouldn’t be a surprise then, that this particular camera does not spit out pictures of your smiling friends and family, but the same picture over and over again, of a beastly dog turned to sniff a fence. But wait. Are the pictures truly the same, or is the dog slightly moving with each capture? Best not to find out.
Great concepts all, and well executed by a master storyteller. Some pretty trigger content in The Library Policeman, but all fascinating stories.
I have to think about this one...
Four stories; greatly written.
Think I will rate each story separately, and then combine my ratings and only then decide how I will rate this book!
Four stories; greatly written.
Think I will rate each story separately, and then combine my ratings and only then decide how I will rate this book!
This collection includes secret window, secret garden, yet another of this authors stories that has been turned into a film. However, the copy I own has a binding error and after page 136 it goes back to 89, then the duplicated pages jump from 136 to 185, i'm missing 50 pages of the story (The Langoliers)!! and have therefore stopped that particular storey until I can find a complete version.
The third story, The Library Policeman, is a good read, I didn't want to put it down once the pace had picked up although the ending seemed a bit of an afterthought. In comparison the final story, The Sun Dog, ends well and then hints that it might not be the end after all.
All in all Four Past Midnight is a good set that I would recommend to any fan of Stephen King, or any horror/thriller for that matter.
The third story, The Library Policeman, is a good read, I didn't want to put it down once the pace had picked up although the ending seemed a bit of an afterthought. In comparison the final story, The Sun Dog, ends well and then hints that it might not be the end after all.
All in all Four Past Midnight is a good set that I would recommend to any fan of Stephen King, or any horror/thriller for that matter.